The main objective of this three stage project by Alex Med’s GIS and Database Unit is to produce a complete and updated map of Alexandria. The last field survey completed by the Municipal Survey Authorities between 1993 and 1995 was on a scale of 5000:1, making it virtually impossible to show details such as building numbers, street names and alleys. Moreover, vast changes in land use and buildings have occurred recently in neighborhoods such as Smouha, down town Alexandria, and along the Corniche, making existing maps obsolete.

Each stage of this project concerns a different part of the city. The first stage, the Street Atlas of Downtown Alexandria, was published in November 2007. It contains 31 detailed maps covering the area between the Eastern Harbor to the north and the railway to the south, and between the Western Harbor to the west and Suez Canal Street to the east. The data, gathered by Alex Med’s state of the art GIS and database system, was obtained from field surveys done during 2004–2007, and the base map was establishing using satellite images taken in 2006.

This kind of publication is the first of its kind in Alexandria due to the vast spectrum of data it contains, in addition to the color satellite images included with each map.